9/6/96
Contact: Mike Williford, 614/593-1059
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University's freshman class will begin fall quarter classes on the Athens campus Tuesday (Sept. 10) with the knowledge that test scores for the Class of 2000 are at an all-time high for the campus.
"This looks like the strongest freshman class we've ever had, in terms of test scores," said Director of Institutional Research Mike Williford. "The average (high school) ACT composite score is the highest it's ever been, and the ACT English and ACT math scores, on average, also are the highest."
Nearly 3,300 freshmen are expected on campus, down from the official count of 3,415 last year, said Williford.
According to preliminary figures, the freshman class' ACT Composite score of 23.8 is up from last year's 23.5, and a dramatic improvement over the 20.2 score registered in the fall of 1986, the year Ohio University began its selective admissions process.
This year's freshman ACT Math (22.7) and ACT English (23.6) scores also are a slight improvement over the 1995 figures of 22.5 and 23.3, respectively. Freshmen in 1986 entered with ACT Math and English scores of 18.7 and 19.6.
SAT Verbal and Math test scores for incoming freshmen also have steadily increased over the last decade to this year's all-time highs of 556 and 552, respectively. The average high school class rank of the incoming freshman class is projected at the 75.2 percentile, up from 74.4 last year and 62.8 in 1986. That means, on average, that incoming freshmen ranked in the top 25 percent of their classes. The 1992 freshman class was at the 75.7 percentile.
Ohio University's freshman class includes 58 high school valedictorians and 22 who ranked second in their class.
"There's certainly been a feeling that we've been moving in the right direction (since selective admissions began)," Williford said.
Coincidentally, Ohio University's popularity among high school seniors has steadily risen as selective admission has taken hold over the past 10 years. In 1986, 7,638 prospective students applied for admission for 3,109 freshman slots. This year, 11,262 freshmen applied, down slightly from 11,746 in 1995. This year, Ohio University admitted 8,225 227 fewer than a year ago in hopes of holding down the freshman class size, said Director of Admissions Kip Howard. In keeping with that goal, the Office of Admissions quit taking freshman applications Feb. 1, a month earlier than normal.
"Our goal this year was to intentionally reduce the size of the freshman class from 3,400 to 3,200," Howard said. "We simply stretched the system too far last year in terms of housing and class availability for freshmen.
"The great thing is that the quality of the class held and, in fact, increased. To have a better class than we've ever had reflects well on the popularity of the university."
The number of African-American freshmen on the Athens campus is expected to drop slightly from last year's 165. Overall, minority enrollment of African-Americans and Hispanics is expected to reach about 5.5 percent this academic year.
Williford of Institutional Research said this year's total Athens on-campus enrollment is expected to remain about the same as last year's 19,143. That figures does not include continuing education enrollments.
Ohio University is the only state-assisted, four-year campus to show an enrollment increase each of the past three years. Fall enrollments become final and official when universities report figures to the Ohio Board of Regents on the 14th day after the start of classes.